When programming for a laptop (any type of programming: graphics, hardware, Windows), are there some things you should be aware of that are different from desktops? I''m guessing that some low level hardware programming will be different. --- "It is better to keep you mouth shut and appear the fool, than to open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain

Nope, nothing is different. That is the point of using the Windows API or DirectX. Perhaps the only difference is that if you do 3D graphics, you won''t get as good a frame rate depending on the video card.

I second Jeranon''s post.

Programming for a laptop is no different than programming for a desktop except that for any given generation, the average laptop will be less powerful, have less RAM, less disk space, etc than the average desktop.

It is particularly hard to find PC laptops with decent 3D hardware support at this time, though that should be changing over the next year or so.

but, of course programming WITH LAPTOP is a whole different matter, you can take it to bed, toilet, and it much easier to throw your two years work out of the window ...

C:\Projects\rg_clue\ph_opt.c(185) : error C3142: 'PushAll' :bad idea
C:\Projects\rg_clue\ph_opt.c(207) : error C324: 'TryCnt': missing point

-kertropp

Edited by - Kertropp on 3/22/00 11:05:39 AM

Mmmmm, I wish I had a laptop to program on.
I keep telling my company that they should buy everyone laptops, string a T1 line across the road to the park across the street and let us do our work outside when it is nice out. Strangly this has not happened yet.

bcj

Depends on what level you''re talking about. Application-level, no problem. Kernel-level, you''ve got issues. We''re a Windows NT house, and there is no support (zero, zip, nada) for PCMCIA in NT. We battled with 3rd-party card services software, finally got something running. Of course, this was a custom PCMCIA card we were designing, so this isn''t run-of-the-mill stuff.

So yeah, there are some differences, but only when you get down to the nitty-gritty.

There is one important difference. Passive matrix screens. They''re evil. I have an active matrix screen so I can see animations without the blurring that passive matrix screens cause.

E:cb woof!

The senior design thesis for one of my computer engineer friends in college was to optimize a device driver for a PCMCIA communications device to reduce it''s power usage. (Yes, certain instructions draw more power.) This is again another one of those low-level things that most programmers never touch.